• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.223-230
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• 2009

Purpose: Circular stapled gastrectomy has been the favored procedure with its feasibility and the shortened operative time, but anastomotic leakage, stenosis and bleeding have been reported as problems. The aim of this study was to identify what can be done to supplement the safety of this technique by examining the potential complications of performing circular stapled gastrojejunosomy after radical subtotal gastrectomy. Materials and Methods: As subjects, this study selected 1,391 patients who underwent gastrojejunostomy after radical subtotal gastrectomy because of gastric cancer at our Department of Surgery from Jan. 1998 to Dec. 2007. The patients were divided into Group I (n=479) who underwent hand-sewn gastrojejunostomy, Group II (n=48) who underwent linear stapled gastrojejunostomy and Group III (n=864) who underwent circular stapled gastrojejunostomy. Group III was re-divided into two subgroups on the basis of the point of time that a visual check was intraoperatively performed at the anastomotic site: Group III-A (n=198) before and Group III-B (n=666) after. The characteristics and complications of the patients were then compared. Results: For the comparison of the complications between Group I, Group II and Group III, anastomotic leakage was found in 7 cases (1.5%) in Group I, in 1 case (2.0%) in Group II and in 10 case (1.2%) in Group III, and anastomotic stenosis were found in 4 cases (0.8%) in Group I, 1 case (2.0%) in Group II and 5 case (0.6%) in Group III. Anastomotic bleeding was found in 32 cases (6.7%) in Group I, in 5 cases (10.4%) in Group II and in 67 cases (7.7%) in Group III. For the comparison of complications between Group III-A and Group III-B, anastomotic bleeding was found in 57 cases (28.8%) in Group III-A and 10 cases (1.5%) in Group III-B and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.037). Conclusion: Circular stapled gastrojejunostomy after radical subtotal gastrectomy is recommended because of the safety and feasibility of this technique, but bleeding at the anastomotic site may be the critical issue. In conclusion, direct inspection for bleeding at the anastomotic site during the operation will improve the safety of performing circular stapler anastomosis.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.189-193
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• 2011

The natural course of untreated patients with signet ring cell carcinoma of the stomach remains poorly understood while assumptions have been made to distinguish it from other types of gastric cancer. A 74-year-old Korean woman was diagnosed with early gastric cancer with signet ring cell histology and refused surgery. A satellite lesion was identified 46 months after the initial diagnosis. The patient finally agreed to undergo distal subtotal gastrectomy 53 months following the initial diagnosis. Postoperative histological examination of both lesions confirmed signet ring cell carcinoma associated with submucosal invasion. There was no evidence of lymph node metastasis.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.254-258
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• 2010

Gastric lipomatosis is an extremely rare condition. We present a case of a 69-year-old woman admitted with epigastric soreness. Computerized tomography (CT) revealed extrinsically compressing, fat-containing mass lesions on the entire gastric wall of the antrum and body except for the lesser curvature. A subtotal gastrectomy was performed. Pathology findings confirmed a gastric lipomatosis with multiple gastric ulcerations and extensive disruptions of the muscular layers. This case and reports of other gastric lipomatosis cases indicate that CT should be used to characterize large submucosal masses because CT can show the specific nature and extent of the disease. We believe that surgical treatment is the most appropriate treatment for symptomatic gastric lipomatosis that shows extensive gastric involvement, or when there are multiple gastric lipomas.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.29-32
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• 2002

A gastroduodenostomy is the most physiological reconstruction after a distal gastrectomy. However, a gastroduodenostomy with either sutures or staples has many complications. These include bleeding, leakage and stenosis. A sutureless gastroduodenostomy with a biofragmentable anastomosis ring (BAR) in was used adenocarcinoma patients to prevent these complications from 1999. A BAR is composed of polyglycolic acid and Barium sulfate to allow for X-ray visualization. Hardy in first introduced the BAR in 1985. Since then, it has been used in an anastomosis of the colon or small bowel surgery but its use in a gastroduodenostomy is the first trial in the world. A 70 year male patient, old who received a subtotal gastrectomy (Billroth I), underwent a A sutureless gastroduodenostomy with a BAR. The gastroduodenostomy with the BAR was watertight and maintained the initial burst strength in the gastrografin X-ray study performed at the postoperative 1 week. The BAR began to fragment 3 weeks after the operation and disappeared from the digestive tract completely. The diameter of the anastomosis site was sufficient for passed foods. No other secondary changes from remained foreign bodies were found in the endoscopic examination. In a second operation to treat a primary hepatoma, there was no adhesive changes around the gastroduodenostomy site. In conclusion, a sutureless gastroduodenostomy with BAR is a safe, easy and efficient reconstructive method after a distal gastrectomy.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.207-214
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• 2009

Purpose: Subtotal distal gastrectomy has been accepted as the standard treatment for early gastric cancer that's developed on the gastric body. EMR and ESD have been introduced to minimize the incidence of postgastrectomy syndrome, but these procedures can not detect lymph node metastasis and they have a risk for gastric perforation. Segmental gastrectomy has recently been applied for treating early gastric cancer, but its usefulness has not been clarified. The aim of this study was to compare segmental gastrectomy and distal gastrectomy with Billroth I reconstruction for treating early gastric cancer that's developed on the gastric body. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all the patients who were diagnosed as having early gastric cancer that developed on the gastric body at Chungnam National University Hospital from January 2004 through July 2007. During this period, 41 patients received segmental gastrectomy and 40 patients underwent subtotal distal gastrectomy. All the patients were studied via a biannual review of the body systems, a physical examination, endoscopy, computed tomography and the laboratory findings. Results: There were no significantly differences of the clinicopathologic characteristics between the two groups. The changes of the nutritional status (Hb, TP, Alb and TC) and the body weight change were not significantly different between the 2 groups. There were significantly more residual food in the SG group than that in the SDG group (RGB classification, Residual>Grade 2), but there were no differences for epigastric discomfort (P>0.05). Esophagitis developed at a similar rate for both two groups (LA classification, >Grade A), and bile reflux was found in only one patient of each group. Conclusion: We expected the reduction of esophagitis and gastritis and the improvement of nutritional status according to the type of procedure. Yet the results of our study showed no significant differences between the two study groups. More patients and a longer follow up time are needed for determining the advantage sand disadvantages of segmental gastrectomy.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.303-314
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• 2023

Purpose: The incidence of early gastric cancer is increasing in older patients alongside life expectancy. For early gastric cancer of the upper third of the stomach, laparoscopic function-preserving gastrectomy (LFPG), including laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy (LPG) and laparoscopic subtotal gastrectomy (LSTG), is expected to be an alternative to laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG). However, whether LFPG has advantages over LTG in older patients remains unknown. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of consecutive patients aged ≥75 years who underwent LTG, LPG, or LSTG for cT1N0M0 gastric cancer between 2005 and 2019. Surgical and nutritional outcomes, including blood parameters, percentage body weight (%BW) and percentage skeletal muscle index (%SMI) were compared between LTG and LPG or LSTG. Survival outcomes were also compared between LTG and LFPG groups. Results: A total of 111 patients who underwent LTG (n=39), LPG (n=48), and LSTG (n=24) were enrolled in this study. To match the surgical indications, LTG was further categorized into "LTG for LPG" (LTG-P) and "LTG for LSTG" (LTG-S). No significant differences were identified in the incidence of postoperative complications among the procedures. Postoperative nutritional parameters, %BW and %SMI were better after LPG and LSTG than after LTG-P and LTG-S, respectively. The survival outcomes of LFPG were better than those of LTG. Conclusions: LFPG is safe for older patients and has advantages over LTG in terms of postoperative nutritional parameters, body weight, skeletal muscle-sparing, and survival. Therefore, LFPG for upper early gastric cancer should be considered in older patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8871-8876
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• 2014

Background: Postoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) of gastric carcinoma improves survival among high-risk patients. This study was undertaken to analyse long-term survival probability and the impact of certain covariates on the survival outcome in affected individuals. Materials and Methods: Between January 2000 and December 2005, 244 patients with gastric cancer underwent adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) in our institution. Data were retrieved retrospectively from patient files and analysed with SPSS version 21.0. Results: A total of 244 cases, with a male to female ratio of 2.2:1, were enrolled in the study. The median age of the patients was 52 years (range, 20-78 years). Surgical margin status was positive or close in 72 (33%) out of 220 patients. Postoperative adjuvant RT dose was 46 Gy. Median follow-up was 99 months (range, 79-132 months) and 23 months (range, 2-155 months) for surviving patients and all patients, respectively. Actuarial overall survival (OS) probability for 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year was 79%, 37%, 24% and 16%, respectively. Actuarial progression free survival (PFS) probability was 69%, 34%, 23% and 16% in the same consecutive order. AJCC Stage I-II disease, subtotal gastrectomy and adjuvant CRT were significantly associated with improved OS and PFS in multivariate analyses. Surgical margin status or lymph node dissection type were not prognostic for survival. Conclusions: Postoperative CRT should be considered for all patients with high risk of recurrence after gastrectomy. Beside well-known prognostic factors such as stage, lymph node status and concurrent chemotherapy, the type of gastrectomy was an important prognostic factor in our series. With our findings we add to the discussion on the definition of required surgical margin for subtotal gastrectomy. We consider that our observations in gastric cancer patients in our clinic can be useful in the future randomised trials to point the way to improved outcomes.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.186-191
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• 2004

Primary small-cell carcinomas of the stomach are rare and aggressive malignancies with poor survival rates. Preoperative diagnosis is difficult and a standard treatment is not yet established. We have recently experienced two cases of a primary small-cell carcinoma of the stomach. The first case was a 65-year-old man with epigastric soreness. Endoscopic biopsy showed an adenocarcinoma. He underwent a radical subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymph-node dissection. Pathology revealed a collision tumor of a smallcell carcinoma and an adenocarcinoma with submucosal invasion and with metastasis in 20 out of 48 lymph nodes (T1N3M0). The second case was a 64-year-old man with epigastric soreness. Endoscopic biopsy revealed a small-cell carcinoma. There was no evidence of a primary tumor in the lung. A radical subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymph-node dissection was performed. Pathology showed a pure smallcell carcinoma with proper muscle invasion and with metastasis in 1 out of 36 lymph nodes (T2aN1M0).

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2012

Purpose: Recently, laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy (LAG) has been widely accepted modality for early gastric cancer in Korea. The indication of LAG may be extended in an experienced institution. In our institution, the first case of laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy (LAG) for gastric cancer was performed in May 1998. We retrospectively reviewed the long-term oncologic outcomes over 12 years to clarify the feasibility of LAG for gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: The authors retrospectively analyzed 753 patients who underwent LAG for gastric cancer, from May 1998 to August 2010. We reviewed clinicopathological features, postoperative outcomes, mortality and morbidity, recurrence, and survival of LAG for gastric cancer. Results: During the time period, 3,039 operations for gastric cancer were performed. Among them, 753 cases were done by LAG (24.8%). There were 69 cases of total gastrectomy, 682 subtotal gastrectomies, and 2 proximal gastrectomies. According to TNM stage, 8 patients were in stage 0, 619 in stage I, 88 in stage II, and 38 in stage III. The operation-related complications occurred in 77 cases (10.2%). Median follow-up period was 56.2 months (range 0.7~165.6 months). Twenty-five patients (3.3%) developed recurrence, during the follow-up period. The overall 5-year and disease free survival rates were 97.1% and 96.3%, respectively. Conclusions: The number of postoperative complications and survival rates of our series were comparable to the results from that of other reports. The authors consider LAG to be a feasible alternative for the treatment of early gastric cancer. However, rationale for laparoscopic surgery in advanced gastric cancer has yet to be determined.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.69-75
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• 2006

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the effect of oral Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hansen CBS 5926 therapy (Saccharomyces boulardii) on gastrointestinal symptoms and nutrition in gastrectomized patients. Materials and Methods: Ninety patients who underwent a gastrectomy due to early gastric cancer were randomly divided into case and control (placebo) groups and were given medicine or placebos for 12 weeks. The gastrointestinal symptom rating and the nutritional status were evaluated by using double blind methods at 4, 16, and 20 weeks after discharge. Results: The ratio of males to females was 2.3 : 1, and the mean age was $56.3{\pm}10.2$ years. The numbers of subtotal gastrectomies and total gastrectomies were 69 and 21, respectively. Fourteen (15.6%) patients dropped, of whom 5 belonged to the case group. Of the remaining 76 patients, those in the case group had higher levels of serum albumin (P=0.046). For patients who underwent subtotal gastrectomy (n=57), the case group had higher level of serum albumin (P=0.049). Conclusion: This double blind study showed that oral Saccharomyces boulardii therapy could improve the postoperative nutrition of gastrectomized patients because gastrectomized patients with oral Saccharomyces boulardii therapy had higher levels of serum albumin than the control group.